1. Cross-Reference to Related Applications
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,744, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,736, U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,706, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,065, all relate to electronic gaming devices that are suitable for use in our present invention where the payouts are based on a Pari-Mutuel system that allows for preset paytables, with a separate rent fee to be earned by the gaming establishment.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Our invention is a new method and apparatus for player pools in a gaming environment. It is an innovative Pari-Mutuel slot machine, which requires no seed money. This method is especially suitable for those casinos and lotteries, that cannot have games with house backed prizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,400 "Pari-Mutuel Electronic Gaming," combines the Nevada style banked progressive with a Pari-Mutuel pool. However, it requires seeding by the house or banker, at startup and when the pool goes negative. Once house seeding is used, it is a banked game. Thus, the referenced patent allowed banking, since the house used its own money to seed the pool. The Keno game in the state of California, was declared illegal on Jun. 24, 1996, because it was a banked game. The California Keno game used guaranteed, preset prizes that were banked by the State (the house). It was deemed not a legal lottery, which can pay winnings only from player money.
Each legal jurisdiction has its own definition for skill games and games of chance. Some prohibit games of chance, while allowing games of skill. In certain cases, some skill games are legal, but others are not. States, like California, specifically do not allow banked games, where the house guarantees any part of a bonus. At the present time, the only popular slot machines are banked games that pay preset prizes. There are no known Pari-Mutuel video slots or poker gaming machines operating successfully today, in any legal jurisdiction.